Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany was receiving over half of its natural gas imports from Russia, but since the start of the war, it has sought alternative sources of energy supply, including liquified natural gas.
Niedersachsen Ports, a company owned by the state of Lower Saxony, has converted an existing landing site so that a floating storage and a "regasification" unit (FSRU) can be permanently stationed there.
Operations at the port will begin in mid-December when a fully loaded tank storage vessel is scheduled to moor.
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Construction work on the landing site began in May this year and the station is opening ahead of schedule, as the original launch date was anticipated to be "at the turn of the year." More LNG tankers will then start arriving in mid-January.
Other terminals to follow
Economics Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) wants to build a second terminal in the city of Wilhelmshaven on the Jade Bay. Wilhelmshaven II is scheduled to start up at the end of 2023, initially also as a floating terminal.
In Stade, a city in Lower Saxony on the Elbe river, a private consortium had already begun preparing a facility near the chemical park in cooperation with the US company Dow before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A floating platform is to be launched here at the end of 2023.
Operations for a floating terminal are also due to start in BrunsbĂĽttel - a town in Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein - this year. The first LNG tanker is scheduled to moor at the end of December.Â
READ ALSO: Germany builds new gas terminals to succeed Russian pipelines
In Lubmin, near Greifswald in Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, the Deutsche Regas company plans to import LNG with a floating terminal. Initially, there was talk of operations starting on December 1st, but permits are still pending. A second terminal is scheduled to start operations in the second half of 2023.
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